Seifollah Samadian

Pizza man Hussein is a daily witnesses to the unjust distribution of wealth in his native Iran. One day, he finds a purse filled with shockingly expensive receipts from an upscale jewelry store. He attempts to bring the purse back to the store, but because of his working-class attire, he's not allowed inside. Then, during a delivery, a rich man invites Hussein into his extravagant mansion – an event that spurs Hussein to make a desperate bid for wealth.

‘Kiarostami at Work’ is a documentary showcasing Abbas Kiarostami’s boundless passion for work and creativity. The film features images captured by Seifollah Samadian during their thirty years of friendship and travels together, including behind-the-scenes footage of ‘Shirin’, ‘Certified Copy’ by the late Hamideh Razavi, and ‘Taste of Cherry’ by Bahman Kiarostami.

Kiarostami as we have never really known him before, despite the transformative power of his many movies. Filmmaker and close friend Samadian avoids the talking heads of so many artistic memoirs to offer more candid clips of Kiarostami the man: lover of poetry, convivial with friends, engaging landscapes on and off screen, laughing with other artists. The artist and visionary emerges more clearly but so does a loving, wondrous man whom we will miss now as much as the auteur.

Abbas Kiarostami shoots a documentary about the AIDS crisis in Uganda.